Friday, January 22, 2016

My Weekend Rage/Crush

Well, this is terrible. If Gillian Anderson, Dana Scully herself, can’t get offered the same pay as her male counterpart – who the fuck can? News came out today that Gillian had been offered half, yes – fucking half – of whether “The X-Files” co-star David Duchovny had been offered to do the series revival. Please let that set in for a moment. Half of one of the most famous – and entirely equal – male/female TV couplings of all time and the powers that be think the woman is only worth half of what the man is worth. COOL, NO BIGGIE, JUST RAGE STROKING OUT OVER HERE.

Wow, yeah. Gillian being Gillian negotiated – demanding and receiving equal pay for her return. But what the fuckity fuck fuck fuck that she even had to. What a perfect and perfectly infuriating example of the Hollywood – and universal – gender pay gap. If you had any lingering beliefs that income inequality between the sexes was perhaps exaggerated, consider Gillian. She wasn’t offered 5 percent less, or 10 percent less, or even 22 percent less (as the national average of women earning 78 cents to men’s dollar would imply). She was offered HALF – 50 percent less.

“The studio initially required Anderson to stand a few feet behind her male partner on camera, careful never to step side-by-side with him. And it took three years before Anderson finally closed the wage gap between her pay and Duchovny’s, having become fed up with accepting less than “equal pay for equal work.”

Ha ha ha. Isn’t that precious. The series ran 9 seasons (7 1/2 with Duchovny). So that means – if I’m doing the math right – 40 percent of her time on screen with Mulder, Scully was making less than him. COOL STORY, BRO.

Interestingly, The Daily Beast wasn’t the first to report on the studio’s low-ball, bullshit 50 percent offer. It was actually initially revealed in a The Hollywood Reporter interview released on Jan. 6. But the wage gap tidbit was buried and so wasn’t really picked up on at that time. Well, it sure is now.

I’m looking forward to the series revival which kicks off Sunday night, like any other self-respecting nerd. But I can’t help but be incensed at the studio’s initial valuing of Gillian’s worth. Though, I am incredibly pleased she fought them for equal footing and pay. There is no “The X-Files” without Special Agent Dana Scully. Trust me, no one wants to watch Fox Mulder be an unhinged idiot loon all by himself each week. The truth is maddening. Thanks for fighting the power, Gillian. Happy weekend, all.